The goal in local fiber access is to provide high bandwidth two-way communications to the home. Any practical local fiber access network requires a transceiver which is compact, rugged and, most of all, cheap. One network transmission design uses a high-bandwidth analog broadcast optical signal at 1.5 .mu.m, with two way time-multiplexed communications using a 1.3 .mu.m optical signal carried on the same fiber.
At first glance, fiber optic systems which use free space propagation and bulk optical components seem to be obsolete. They could be replaced by integrated optic arrangements which eliminate the large number of expensive alignments. Yet bulk optic arrangements are often still the most cost-effective approach. The basic idea of this standard approach is shown in FIG. 1.
As shown, the 1.3 .mu.m and 1.55 .mu.m optical signals are received over a fiber which terminates in a fiber ferrule. The received optical signals are collimated and then split into the 1.3 .mu.m and 1.55 .mu.m signals by a dichroic beamsplitter. The 1.55 .mu.m signal is then focused and detected. The 1.3 .mu.m signal is further split in a beamsplitter and the reflected portion focused and detected. The transmission path through the beamsplitter is focused and coupled to a 1.3 .mu.m laser.
While the bulk optic bidirectional transceiver has worked well, there has been continuing attempts to improve the assembly, alignment, compactness, ruggedness and cost of such transceivers.